Last Ditch Attempt
by cHiBi MiDnIgHt AsSaSsIn
Summary: Takes place after the Russian Tournament. Voltaire is now extremely desperate and sends Kai...a slave and Black Dranzer. If he sends either of the two back, she will be killed. What will Kai do? Plz R
1. Chapter 1: The Discovery

Last Ditch Attempt

By: cHiBi MiDnIgHt AsSaSsIn

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or it's respective characters. *breaks down crying and after a while, composes herself* Yeah, life's tough, deal with it.

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CHAPTER 1:

It was after the Russian Tournament, and the BladeBreakers were out, celebrating their victory with some ice cream after lunch, courtesy of Mr. Dickenson.

"We'll have one triple fudge sundae, one strawberry, one vanilla, one rocky road, and one mocha to go," said Tyson.

"That'll be seventeen dollars and eighty-five cents," said the cashier.

"Ok," said Max, handing over a twenty-dollar bill and in a few minutes the cashier got them their ice cream, and their change.

Tyson , of course, had the sundae, Max had the strawberry, Kenny had vanilla, Rei had rocky road, and Kai had the mocha. 

While eating their various flavored ice cream, they walked back to the hotel they were staying in at Moscow.

By the time they reached the entrance to their fancy five-star hotel, they had all finished their frozen treats. The famous beybladers got into the elevator and went to the fourth floor.

"Ding," the elevator doors slid open, and as the BladeBreakers walked out, a pair of men wearing black suits and sunglasses walked in.

As soon as the elevator doors slid close, Kenny asked, "Did those men seem strange to you?"

"Stop being paranoid, Kenny," Rei teased.

"I'm not being paranoid!" exclaimed Kenny.

Kai just ignored them and opened the door. Compared to the dim hallway they were standing in, their hotel room was as bright as the sun. 

They filed in and took a few seconds to adjust to the light. "Ok," said Kai. "Who left the lights on?" Kai turned to face the others, but they didn't answer. 

They just stood there openmouthed, and stared into the space behind Kai. Kai simply turned around and there was a girl on one of the beds with a note in a fancy envelope beside her.

The girl was tied up, gagged, and blindfolded. She was wearing white pants and a white sleeveless top and had bright red hair. She remained still as Tyson rushed up and untied her, while Kai picked up the envelope and inspected it.

As the blindfold came undone, the BladeBreakers saw that the girl had bloodshot emerald eyes. Obviously, she had been crying.

"Are you okay?" Max asked gently.

The girl just sat there, huddled up, and looked fearfully up at the five boys in front of her.

"Don't worry, we won't hurt you, honest," Rei reassured the girl. "Here, why don't you get cleaned up first, and then we'll talk. Alright?" He walked the girl to their bathroom and closed the door behind him.

The BladeBreakers waited there quietly, for no one had anything to say about their situation and after a while, the girl came out of the bathroom.

Kenny offered her a seat and introduced the team members. She merely nodded, and seemed a little calmer. When Kenny got to Kai, she became afraid once more. 

"What's your name?" asked Max in a soft voice.

"Her name is Alida," said Kai. Everyone except Alida looked at him in surprise. For an explanation, Kai held up the envelope.

"What's it say and who sent it?" asked Tyson.

"The letter talks about Alida, and how she is…a present for me," Kai said sourly. "That's all it said, but that's not all that was in the envelope." Kai held up a small object for the others to see.

"Black Dranzer," gasped Kenny. Meanwhile, Alida was looking at the floor. 

"Obviously, she was sent by my Grandfather," said Kai in a low voice. "We have to send her back."

"You can't!" shouted Alida. The others stared at her, it was the first thing she had said. She looked down and added more quietly, "Voltaire's thought of everything. He said that I was supposed to be a slave for Kai, and if I didn't obey, he'd hurt my family. If you send me back to him or my family, he'll kill me. Same goes for Black Dranzer. If I tell my family or any authorities about what is going on, Voltaire threatened to hurt my family."

"Wow, that's quite a predicament," said Rei.

"I'm really sorry, but I promise I won't be a burden. I can do a lot of things," said Alida. "Just please don't send me back…"

"How dare he…" muttered Kai, growing angry.

"Calm down Kai," said Tyson.

"Don't worry Alida, we won't send you back, we can't. Right, Kai?" asked Max, Kai nodded slightly.

"Thank you so much!" Alida exclaimed in happiness. "You won't regret it."

They all smiled, except for Kai, and Kenny phoned Mr. Dickenson to tell him about Alida.

"We're going back to Japan in a few days," Rei informed Alida. "That should be enough time for Mr. Dickenson to get you a ticket."

Alida nodded, and then surveyed the hotel room. The room was spacious and had three beds, two bedside tables, three sitting chairs, and one table. It also had a refrigerator, a phone on one of the bedside tables, and a TV on top of a small cabinet. 

There were two doors, not including the entry door. One was the bathroom, while another led into a separate room. The separate room was like the first. It was a joint suite. 

Kenny, Max, and Tyson shared the other room, while Rei and Kai shared the room they were currently in. Alida was to sleep in Rei and Kai's room, in the extra bed.

"How did Voltaire get his hands on you?" asked Tyson, not one to be subtle.

"TYSON!" Kenny, Max, and Rei scolded.

"What?" said Tyson with a blank look.

"It's alright," smiled Alida. "One day, I was returning home from my friend's house. I was walking down the street by myself, and it was getting dark. I heard a noise behind me and I suddenly found myself being backed into an alleyway by a boy with red hair. Um…he tried to…he tried to…"

"We get the idea, go on," said Rei gently.

"What? Get what? I don't understand," whined Tyson. Kenny whispered something into his ear and Tyson got mad. "What? How could he?"

"Let her finish Tyson," said Kai.

"But before he could, someone else appeared at the mouth of the alleyway and said, 'Tala! What are you doing here?' It turned out to be Voltaire. He forced Tala to stop and said that he had a plan and that he needed me for it," Alida finished.

There was silence for a moment before Max said, "Have you had lunch yet?" 

Alida shook her head shyly. Max went to go call for room service as Alida began to protest. In a few moments, an attendant came up to their room with food. 

At first, Alida refused the food, but they gently persuaded her to eat. After a while, she finished, but there was quite a large amount of food left. Then, making sure she was full, Tyson ate the rest.

Alida's eyes widened, "Does he always eat this much?" she whispered.

Kenny laughed and replied, "Always."

To be continued…

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Alida - (Latin) " little winged one"

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Well? Tell me what you think by reviewing, thanks for your time. 

~cHiBi MidNiGhT aSsAsSiN


	2. Chapter 2: The First Night

Last Ditch Attempt

By: cHiBi MiDnIgHt AsSaSsIn

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or it's respective characters. *breaks down crying and after a while, composes herself* Yeah, life's tough, deal with it.

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Chapter 2:

The BladeBreakers got to know Alida more, and vice versa. Kenny introduced Dizzi, and Alida was amazed to hear that a bitbeast was talking to her. 

Dizzi gave a few warnings to Alida about the boys, which made her laugh. The comments were mostly about Tyson. As Dizzi went on, and the list grew, the guys couldn't help it and started warning Alida about Dizzi. To which both parties had a playful argument about.

Kai, of course, was not part of this and sat away from them. Alida carefully noted that he liked his space.

As time went on, she felt more and more relaxed and comfortable with the famous bladers, and before they knew it, it was time for dinner.

They took the elevator to the first floor, where the hotel's restaurant was. Mr. Dickenson had reserved them a table, and was waiting for them as they arrived.

Mr. Dickenson and Alida exchanged small talk and the rest of the meal was eaten in silence. At the end, while talking over desserts, Alida expressed her gratitude towards Mr. Dickenson and the BladeBreakers.

Afterwards, they walked outside into the hotel's garden, where they proceeded in having friendly beyblade matches.

"Do you have a beyblade?" asked Max. Alida shook her head. "Do you know how to use one?" Again the same response.

"What? How could you not?" yelled Tyson. 

Alida was shocked. "Um…I'm sorry," she replied in a weak voice, looking down.

"It's alright. He's just playing around," said Rei, giving her a pat on the back. "Here, we'll teach you how to blade."

"It's ok," she answered immediately. "Being famous bladers, you must need to practice whenever you have the chance. Don't waste time teaching me."

Kenny laughed and said, "We have the time, besides, the next tournament isn't until much later."

So the boys each took turns lending her their blade and teaching her a few things. Kenny explained the parts of a beyblade; Max showed her defense techniques; Tyson showed her attacks; and Rei showed her battle strategies. 

Meanwhile, Kai was off practicing on his own. Alida watched him silently and asked if this was how Kai normally behaved. The boys responded by nodding their heads.

Despite Kai, Alida had fun, and so did the others. When it got dark, they all headed upstairs to their room.

Tyson and Max started a pillow fight. Rei joined in, while Kenny said he had a few things to work on on his laptop. 

"Come on," Tyson said to Alida, handing her a pillow.

Alida hesitantly took the pillow and glanced at Kai. It seemed as if he was getting extremely annoyed at the three bladers' activities. "Um, may I?" she asked him.

Kai was a little surprised at the question, but he quickly recovered with a bored, "Whatever."

Alida blinked confusedly and Max whispered, "That means yes."

After one more glance at Kai to verify what Max had said was true, Alida smiled happily and the four of them played this game for a while. Then they decided that it was time for bed.

They took turns using the two bathrooms and got ready to sleep. In a while, things settled down and everyone was in bed. The door connecting the two bedrooms together was closed, but unlocked. 

In a while, Tyson's snores were still heard through the door, defeating its purpose. Kai groaned and Rei laughed and told Alida about the noise.

"I feel sorry for Max and Kenny," smiled Alida.

"Don't worry, they're used to it," replied Rei.

Alida struggled to sleep with Tyson's snoring, and eventually reached her goal and soon, everyone was sleeping. 

Alida woke up with a start in the middle of the night. She blinked rapidly through the dark and tried to get her bearings.

She got up and shook her head in amazement at how loud Tyson could snore. Then she quietly opened the door and checked in on the sleeping occupants.

There was just enough light from the crescent moon outside so that she could walk without stumbling.

She took a glance at her new friends and had to stifle a giggle. 

Tyson was on the floor among a cocoon of blankets. She tried to wake him up, and failed miserably. Alida knelt beside him and decided to just put a pillow under his head and rearrange the blankets around him.

Kenny was sleeping normally, and Max was sleeping with the covers off of him. She carefully covered Max with the blankets and headed back to the original room.

Meanwhile, Kai was watching her from the shadows near doorway, and when she was coming back, he quickly slipped under the covers.

Kai watched as Alida checked on Rei. Rei was mumbling in his sleep and Alida was giggling. She said a few words to him and waited for a response. Obviously it was very amusing to her.

Then Alida turned towards Kai's bed. Kai appeared to be sleeping properly, so she yawned, stretched, and then went back to sleep in her own bed. 

Kai lay awake for a few more minutes, thinking about the current situation. When he fell asleep, he had nightmares about Black Dranzer.

To be continued…

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Well? Tell me what you think by reviewing, thanks for your time. 

~cHiBi MidNiGhT aSsAsSiN


	3. Chapter 3: Trip to Japan

Last Ditch Attempt

By: cHiBi MiDnIgHt AsSaSsIn

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or it's respective characters. *breaks down crying and after a while, composes herself* Yeah, life's tough, deal with it.

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Chapter 3:

The BladeBreakers and Alida stayed in Russia for a few more days, alternating between training and sight seeing. Since Alida grew up in Russia, she made an excellent tour guide.

She showed them places that they would have missed otherwise, places that only inhabitants of Russia knew about.

By the time it came to the day when they were supposed to leave for Japan, she felt extremely at ease around her new friends, all except for Kai.

Kai was still keeping his distance, and most of the time Alida left him alone. Occasionally, though, Alida sought to talk to him a little bit, and try to become friends with him, but to no avail.

"Come on Tyson, or we're going to miss the plane," called Kenny.

"I'll be there in a minute Chief," said Tyson, dressing.

Everyone but Tyson was out in the hall, with their small bags of luggage. Finally, Tyson stumbled out.

"Tyson, you forgot your hat," reminded Alida with a smile.

"Huh? Oh yeah! Thanks," said Tyson, before rushing into the room to retrieve his hat.

Then, they were finally off to the airport in a BBA bus. Kai sat in the back. Tyson, Max, and Kenny sat in the very front. Alida took a seat in the middle, and Rei asked if he could join her. 

"Of course," said Alida, scooting over from the aisle seat to the window seat, she made sure that Rei had enough room before looking out the window at the snow-covered landscape.

"Are you okay?" asked Rei. "I mean, leaving your country and all…"

She turned to look at him and gave him a brave smile. "I'm fine. Traveling to a new country will be fun."

Rei and Alida made small talk all the way down to the airport, while Kai sat silent at the back. Max and Tyson were yelling loudly in the front, and Kenny was working with Dizzi on something. 

Mr. Dickenson greeted them at the airport. He handed each of them a ticket. They headed to their plane and handed their tickets to the right personnel. 

The BladeBreakers had first class tickets. They had middle seats, four-in-a-row. 

"May I sit here?" Alida asked Kai.

"Go ahead," said Kai before crossing his arms and closing his eyes. Rei took the seat next to Alida, so that there was an empty seat next to Rei.

Max, Kenny, Tyson, and Mr. Dickenson took the four seats in front of them. 

The flight was predicted to take from ten to fifteen hours long. There would be no stops; the flight was directly from Russia to Japan.

After take off, they were allowed to walk around the compartment. There were two built in beydishes off to one side of the room. One was being used by amateurs, leaving the other one for the BladeBreakers to use.

Kenny was making minor adjustments as the team was practicing. Kai was supervising his teammates, and Alida was watching them. They were often interrupted by beyblade fanatics that recognized the BladeBreakers and wanted autographs from them.

Kai blatantly refused to sign any, while the others were only happy to do so, especially Tyson. Kenny sighed; Tyson's ego was getting bigger and bigger once again.

Suddenly, the sound system crackled and the pilot's voice came on the intercom.

"This is the pilot speaking. Sorry for this disruption, but we are heading straight into a storm. Don't worry though, all we will encounter is slight turbulence. All the staff asks is to please return calmly to your seats and to buckle your seat belts. Thank you."

Alida looked out of the nearest window, and sure enough, there were thick black and gray clouds surrounding the plane.

The BladeBreakers put away their blades and were heading toward their seats when all of a sudden, there was a huge gust of wind outside. The plane tilted unexpectedly, and Alida fell.

Kai braced himself along the nearest wall, while Alida closed her eyes waiting to hit the ground. With one arm, he hung onto the wall, steadying himself, and with the other arm, he caught Alida around the waist and helped her to the wall.

"Thanks," gasped Alida breathlessly, while the plane stabilized and she found herself able to stand without having to cling to the wall.

Kai remained silent, and they headed for their seats. Kai was walking slightly behind Alida, prepared to catch her again if need be.

Thankfully, there was no need as they finally made it to their seats. It was now nighttime and the stewardesses were making their way around with food. Alida fell asleep, thought, and Rei ordered something for her in case she woke up.

Alida woke up a few minutes later and claimed to be full from lunch still. So when Tyson's stomach rumbled, she happily gave her food to Tyson, who wolfed it down. 

They finally made it to Japan, many hours later. "Thank God!" exclaimed Tyson. "Being on that plane was boring."

"I seem to recall that when you were signing autographs, you were having a wonderful time," teased Alida.

"Well…that was different," Tyson protested as the others laughed.

They boarded another BBA bus, which drove them to a house in the suburbs of Japan. It was a nice, tiny little house, surrounded by gardens filled with multicolored flowers. Upon exploration, they discovered that the house had six bedrooms, one for each of them, all equally sized. The house had two floors, not including the basement. There were two bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, and a living room. Mr. Dickenson explained that if they needed anything they could call him. Otherwise, there were stores within walking distance from the house. Before he left, he gave Kai some money to last them a month.

Tyson went to go check out the kitchen and soon the others heard Tyson scream. "There's no food!" he shouted racing back to where the others were.

"Don't worry Tyson, Mr. Dickenson gave Kai some money, so I'll go grocery shopping, okay?" asked Alida, hoping to calm him down.

Instead, Tyson got more panicked. "What will we do about food in the meantime?" he yelled.

"If you're so worked up about it, I can go now," replied Alida.

"Thanks," said Tyson. "You're the best."

"You're going to need help bringing the groceries back," Rei pointed out. "I'll go with you."

Kai had a vague feeling that Rei _liked_ her and was amused at how Rei reacted around her. He handed Alida some money.

"Thanks Rei, you're sweet," smiled Alida, while Rei blushed. "We better hurry if we want to make it back before dark."

The two left, while the others picked out their bedrooms and personalized them.

They came back, loaded down with groceries, because Rei warned her about Tyson, so they bought as much as they could carry. Alida set down two bags, and Rei set down four.

Max and Kenny put away the groceries, while Rei and Alida sat down to rest.

"What do you guys want to eat?" Alida called out.

"Everything!" answered Tyson. Everyone sweatdropped.

"It doesn't matter," Max responded. "You pick."

In a while, Rei got up to unpack his things in his room, and Alida started to cook dinner. 

"Something smells good," replied Rei, coming out of his room. His hair was wet and there was a towel around his neck. He had obviously just taken a shower.

While Rei began towel drying his hair, Kai set the table.

"Need any help?" asked Kenny.

"I'm fine thanks," said Alida, bringing all that she cooked to the dinning room table. 

They all took a seat at the table, and everyone commented Alida on her cooking. She smiled happily and started eating with the rest of them.

When everyone was finished eating, she cleared the table and started doing the dishes. After that, she washed the table top and swept the floor. By then, everyone had bid her goodnight and gone to sleep except for Kai.

Kai just sat in an armchair, watching her quietly doing her work. Alida didn't notice until she had finished all her work. By then it was late.

She smiled at Kai. "How come you're not in bed yet?" she asked him curiously.

Kai shrugged. "I'm not tired yet." After a moment's pause, he added, "I wanted to ask you something. Is that alright with you?"

"That's fine, go ahead," she said, looking at him questioningly.

"Did my grandfather…" he trailed off. "Did my grandfather…treat you, for lack of a better term, humanely?"

Her eyes widened, and she looked down. "Of…of course," she stuttered.

Kai walked up to her and tilted her head up with his hand. "Answer me truthfully," he said, looking into her frightened emerald eyes.

"Yes," she answered firmly, staring back into his eyes. "Yes he did."

Kai let go, and watched as Alida retreated shakily to her room. Then Kai followed suit.

In the middle of the night, Kai awakened to a slight noise outside of his room. Through the crack in the door, he saw that Alida was once again checking on the sleeping conditions of the team, like she had every night during their stay in the hotel at Russia. 

When Alida had returned to her room, Kai settled down to more nightmares of Black Dranzer.

To be continued…

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Well? Tell me what you think by reviewing, thanks for your time. 

~cHiBi MidNiGhT aSsAsSiN


	4. Chapter 4: TYSON!

Last Ditch Attempt

By: cHiBi MiDnIgHt AsSaSsIn

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or it's respective characters. *breaks down crying and after a while, composes herself* Yeah, life's tough, deal with it.

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Chapter 4:

It was the next day and Alida woke up early to make breakfast. One by one, the BladeBreakers woke up and joined her in the kitchen, except Tyson.

"Good morning!" Alida greeted them happily.

Everyone but Max groaned groggily, still half asleep. "Good morning Alida!" he said, beaming at her.

Then Tyson came into the room.

The others blinked at him, and some of them gasped. "Tyson, why are you up so early?" asked Rei.

"I smelled food," Tyson said simply.

"Oh my god! We have a way of waking up Tyson!" yelled Kenny.

"Done!" announced Alida, stopping any further arguments, and everyone followed her to the dining room.

"Finally," said Tyson.

"Tyson!" yelled Rei.

"What?" asked Tyson cluelessly.

"It's alright," said Alida, trying to stop the oncoming fight.

They had a hearty but silent meal of breakfast. 

"Alright, today is a day off, but tomorrow, we'll resume training. Is that clear?" asked Kai in a loud voice after everyone was finished eating.

Alida cleared the table and washed the dishes just like last night, while the BladeBreakers were off to do whatever they felt like.

After that Alida took their laundry and washed them in the basement. In about two hours, the clothes were finished washing and drying, and Alida was sitting in the living room, folding their clothes.

"Alida, what are you doing?" asked Rei, entering the room.

"Er…folding your guys' clothes?" she replied, giving him a weird look. 

"But…but…" Rei faltered.

"You don't need to," Kai finished for him, coming into the room.

"But, that's what Voltaire sent me here for," she answered simply, going back to folding clothes.

Both boys looked at her dumbfounded.

"Besides, I'm happy to do it. Otherwise, I'll feel worthless," she continued giving them a smile. Alida finished folding the clothes, and they were separated into six piles: Kai's clothes, Rei's, Kenny's, Tyson's, Max's, and her own. She got up and started heading for their bedrooms, with the various piles.

"We'll take our own clothes to our rooms," Rei offered quickly, taking his and Kai's pile of clothes.

"Oh, um, alright then," said Alida, then she delivered her clothes to her room. Upon reaching Max's closed door, she knocked, and when she didn't receive an answer she assumed he was elsewhere, and put his clothes onto his bed.

Next was Tyson's room, she knocked on the door and did not receive an answer then either, so she opened the door and screamed loudly. She dropped Tyson's clothes on the floor, and sank to a sitting position, with her knees and thighs together, and the lower parts of her legs on either side of her. She fell to muttering apologies over and over again, and covered her eyes with her hands, Tyson's clothes scattered all around her.

Everyone rushed into the room and found Alida and Tyson's clothes on the floor. They raised their eyes at the thing that made her scream.

"Good god Tyson!" yelled Max. "Put on some clothes!"

Tyson was standing there, dripping wet from a recent shower, standing only in a white towel wrapped around his waist. He finally seemed to understand everything, and hurriedly rushed to another room to dress.

Meanwhile, Rei threaded his way through Tyson's clean clothes to the Alida, who was blushing extremely hard. "Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded and mumbled something unintelligible, and still had her hands over her eyes.

"Shh…it's okay," assured Rei. He picked her up, and she took her hands away from her eyes and wrapped them around Rei's neck, afraid of falling, and buried her head into Rei's chest. Rei carried her out of the room, and to Alida's bed. 

The others stared at each other for a while, until Tyson came bursting into the room, and Kenny and Max immediately set on him, scolding on him and such.

Kai simply left the room, and went outside for fresh air. Black Dranzer was getting harder and harder for him to ignore, and the nightmares weren't helping.

Rei sat down on Alida's bed, simply holding her for a while. Finally, Alida managed to stop blushing and looked up at Rei.

"Better?" he asked. Alida nodded. "Man, you must have been blinded when you walked in on Tyson. I mean, I don't think I could have taken it either. If I were you, I'd have probably needed to be sent to a hospital after that." Rei chuckled.

Alida laughed at this. "Thanks for helping me, Rei."

"No problem," he replied.

For the rest of the day, Alida tried to avoid Tyson, except at meal times, where it was unavoidable. During lunch, she met his eyes once and couldn't stop blushing for the rest of the meal.

During dinner, Tyson finally spoke up. "Alida, it's okay, stop acting weird alright? I mean, you didn't really see anything anyway."

Alida, shocked by his tactlessness, couldn't think of anything to say for a while. Finally, she muttered, "Sorry," again before pretending the whole thing never happened.

Again Alida stayed up late finishing the housework. After everyone had gone to sleep, she realized that Kai had not returned from his walk since the incident with Tyson.

She opened the door anxiously, and peered out into the darkness. Just then, Kai stumbled into the house, almost on top of Alida. 

"Kai! Are you alright?" she shouted, for Kai was paler than usual and panting slightly. 

When Kai almost collapsed, she gasped. Alida put his right arm over her shoulder and supported as much of his weight as possible and helped him to a sofa in the living room.

She took a seat next to him and was still supporting him. Kai was half leaning on Alida and it amazed both of them that none of the others had woken up to the noise they were making.

Kai, realizing his situation, quickly took his arm off of her shoulder and scooted away from her, leaving a consider gap between them on the sofa.

Alida just stared at him concernedly, she understood his need to seem tough at all times. "Kai? What happened?" 

He didn't answer, he didn't even look at her. Tired of waiting for an answer, she yawned and got up.

"Well, if you're going to tell me, I might as well go to sleep. Do you need help getting to bed?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"No, but…" he trailed off. "Thanks."

She nodded and said, "It was because of Black Dranzer wasn't it?" 

Kai looked up in surprise at what she said to see Alida crying.

"I'm really sorry Kai. If only I could go back, then you wouldn't have to suffer like this," she said softly, tears pouring down her cheeks.

Kai didn't know what to do. He got up and seized her wrists, making sure she was looking at him. "No," he replied quietly. "Alida, none of this is your fault. It's my grandfather's fault and you didn't cause any of this. Do you understand?"

"But…" she trailed off as Kai shook his head firmly.

"No buts, you are not to blame. We…" this was where Kai was having difficulty. 

__

Oh why couldn't Rei or one of the others be doing this? They're bound to be better at it than me, Kai thought.

"We're glad that you're here with us. You've been a big help and you shouldn't even be here. You've been brave, leaving your family, enduring Tala and my grandfather—" Kai stopped abruptly as Alida stepped closer to him and buried her head in his chest, starting a new flood of tears.

__

What am I supposed to do?! he thought frantically. Kai released his grip on her wrists.

"Er…it's okay," he said in what he hoped was a reassuring voice. He needed to be strong right now, because Alida needed him. Kai awkwardly patted her on the back.

Meanwhile, Rei was spying from behind a crack in his bedroom doorway, where he'd left the door open an inch or so. He almost laughed out loud to see Kai in a situation where he didn't know a thing. He had to grab the pillow off his bed and stuff it in his mouth.

__

Poor Kai, lamented Rei, while calming down. Rei saw potential for those two, and even though he liked Alida, he knew that Kai needed her more, and began plotting something.

After a while, Kai and Alida went to bed, and Rei fell asleep. Once again, in the middle of the night, Alida checked up on the entire BladeBreakers team, before falling asleep until next morning.

To be continued…

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Well? Tell me what you think by reviewing, thanks for your time. 

~cHiBi MidNiGhT aSsAsSiN


	5. Chapter 5: The Waterfall

Last Ditch Attempt

By: cHiBi MiDnIgHt AsSaSsIn

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or it's respective characters. *breaks down crying and after a while, composes herself* Yeah, life's tough, deal with it.

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Chapter 5:

The next day, Kai seemed to be in better condition than he was on the previous night. Kenny, Rei, and Max knew well enough to leave Kai alone about his absence, but Tyson didn't.

"Hey Kai," Tyson greeted him. "Where were you last night. You missed lunch and dinner."

"Mind your own business Tyson," Kai said, closing his eyes and crossing his arms.

"Fine then Mr. Sourpuss," Tyson shot back, fuming at his team captain.

"Calm down Tyson, have a snack," offered Alida, motioning to some freshly baked cookies.

"Huh? Cookies!" he yelled, forgetting all about Kai. 

"Save some for the rest of us Tyson!" shouted Max, saving as many cookies as he could, which turned out to be half of them.

So, as Tyson set to eating the half of sugar cookies that Max didn't get, Max passed out the remaining ones to everyone evenly

In the following days, Kai was healthy enough to go on with his daily routine. He even set up a schedule of two days practice followed by one day off for his team. Things went well, and Kenny was trying to find a solution to Black Dranzer.

Everything was going well and Alida broke up and prevented many fights. 

One morning, Alida woke up early to make breakfast, as usual. By the time she finished, everyone was up except for Kai.

She set the food on the table, and told the others to eat while she went to check up on Kai. She took off the apron she usually wore for cooking and walked to Kai's bedroom.

"Kai?" she asked, knocking softly on the door.

"Come in," Kai said faintly from inside the room.

She opened the door and lightly stepped inside. Kai was in bed, paler than he was last night and upon walking up to him beside the bed, Alida saw that he was shivering.

He lay there, blinking up at her. "Sorry, did I wake you up?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Do you need more blankets or something?" she offered.

"Yes," Kai said, his teeth chattering. Alida turned to go and Kai quietly added, "Please."

She smiled and got some from the closet at the end of the hall. She padded into the room with two extra blankets and piled both of them on Kai.

"I'll bring you something to eat. How's that sound? Is there anything specific you want to eat?" she asked. 

"Whatever is fine," Kai mumbled.

She put a cool hand on his forehead and said, "You're burning up. Let's take your temperature." 

Kai opened his mouth, and she put the thermometer under his tongue. Afterwards Alida left the room. She came back ten minutes later carrying a sort of tray with legs, so that it stood up like a table.

She set the tray on his bedside table and took out the thermometer. Alida held it up to the light that she turned on next to Kai's bed. "One hundred five," she murmured. 

She down next to Kai on the bed and helped him get up. He put most of his weight on Alida while she moved his pillows so that he could sit back on them.

She rearranged the blankets, so that they came up to his waist, leaving Kai to sit only in his tank top. When Alida set the tray across his lap, Rei knocked before coming in.

"Good morning Kai," he greeted. "Alida said you were sick and I thought you might need some more clothes, since you don't seem to have anything besides what you normally wear."

Rei held up a black cotton jacket, to see if Kai would approve. When he didn't say anything, Rei supported Kai's weight, while Alida helped Kai to put on the article of clothing.

Once they finished, Alida asked Rei if he minded going out to buy some medicine for Kai. 

"Sure thing," Rei replied.

He left, shutting the door behind him.

Alida watched him go when Kai muttered something. "Excuse me?" she asked.

"I feel so worthless…relying on others like this," he repeated. "But, that's how we won each tournament, trusting each other and letting things play out."

"Eat your food before it gets cold," she advised, making sure that he could eat without any help.

She pulled a chair up next to Kai's bed and sat with him until he finished his breakfast of chicken soup. Just then, Rei came back from the pharmacy. He walked into Kai's room with a glass of water and two tablets of fever medicine.

"Thanks Rei," said Alida, taking both things from him and gave them to Kai.

"No problem," replied Rei as they helped Kai back into his original lying position. Meanwhile, Kai was quietly observing their friendly exchange until Alida tucked him in.

Alida took a look at the medicine box and murmured, "You'll need to take this again in six hours, unless your fever has gone down, okay?" Kai nodded. "Let's leave him alone to sleep now."

And with that she pushed the curious Rei out the door with both hands to his back. Right before leaving she asked, "Is there anything else you need?" 

But Kai had already fallen asleep. Apparently, Rei had gotten the drowsy kind. Alida smiled and closed the door behind her. "Sweet dreams Kai," she said softly.

Rei turned around and grabbed Alida's left wrist. "Come on," he said. "I wanna show you something I found on the way to the pharmacy."

Alida agreed and gently pulled her behind him. They went into a forest that was behind the house. The trees were so close, Rei had to slow down so Alida would not run into any of them. The two carefully threaded their way in between the trees until Rei stopped them right before a row of flowering bushes. 

Alida took a good look around. "Don't worry," Rei said "We're not there yet. It's just beyond these bushes."

As she headed for them, Rei pulled her back. She looked at him questioningly. "Close your eyes first," he explained.

Alida gave him a weird look. "What's the matter? Don't trust me?" Rei asked jokingly.

"Of course not!" she joked back, but followed Rei's directions. He led her carefully through the bushes, using his body to make a path for Alida.

"Just a little more…" said Rei. "Okay, open your eyes." Alida did so and gasped. Rei had led her into a clearing where there was a mini waterfall tumbling over some rocks, leading to a large pool in the center.

Alida walked up to the pool and looked in it, the water was crystal clear and had brightly colored fish swimming in it. On one side of the pool, there was a gigantic boulder with a moderately flat top. The whole area was surrounded by bushes with various colored flowers including, white, red, pink, and blue. Some of the bushes farthest away from them were covered in fruit such as strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries.

"Wow Rei," she whispered, awestruck. "It's beautiful." Alida immediately set to picking flowers, while Rei climbed on top of the rock next to the water.

"What are you doing Rei?" Alida asked a bit more out of curiosity than out of worry. 

"Trying to see what's feeding the waterfall," he replied.

"Be careful," warned Alida, looking up at him.

"Don't worry," reassured Rei. "There's no way I can fall off unless I jump off myself, but if you're really worried, I'll come down."

Rei jumped down and Alida stared at him in disbelief. "It's a Chinese thing," he explained. Alida felt her knees buckle underneath her and she collapsed onto the ground.

"I can't believe you Rei," she accused, not even trying to get up.

"I'm sorry. Really, I am," he apologized. He ran over to a nearest bush and picked a white flower. "Are you okay?" 

Alida didn't answer him and just looked away, until she felt Rei's hands doing something with her hair. She immediately turned her gaze toward his golden eyes. 

Alida waited patiently until Rei finished and reached up to try and see if she could tell what it was by touch.

"Leave it there," Rei urged.

"What is it?" Alida asked, her anger forgotten.

"It's just a flower. Leave it in, it looks good," said Rei. "Take a look for yourself." He pulled Alida gently to her feet and guided her to the edge of the pool.

She looked at her reflection and almost fell into the water had it not been for Rei, who grabbed one of her arms just in time.

"Thanks," she said breathlessly. "I might have also gotten sick if it weren't for you."

Rei smiled, and helped her pick some more flowers for Kai before returning home in time for lunch.

To be continued…

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Well? Tell me what you think by reviewing, thanks for your time. 

~cHiBi MidNiGhT aSsAsSiN


	6. Chapter 6: Kai Cooks!

Last Ditch Attempt

By: cHiBi MiDnIgHt AsSaSsIn

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or it's respective characters. *breaks down crying and after a while, composes herself* Yeah, life's tough, deal with it.

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Chapter 6:

Kai woke up to find that Alida was sitting on a chair next to his bed, arranging flowers on his bedside table.

"How are you feeling?" she asked Kai.

"What are you doing?" he asked in return.

"Arranging flowers that I picked from the forest behind the house, see? The blue flowers represent you, the red flowers represent Dranzer, and the white ones represent your partnership and unity," she finished with a smile.

"I've never seen flowers that were arranged to represent things," said Kai.

"Yeah, it's something my sister and I came up with," she said wistfully, staring at the flowers.

"What time is it?" asked Kai tactfully, not wanting Alida to cry all over him again.

"It's just past noon. Are you hungry?" she asked, finishing with the flowers and looking over at him.

"No, I'm bored," he replied. "I need to do something."

"Well…can you get up and walk around by yourself?" Alida inquired.

Kai proceeded to get up from his bed and went to go retrieve Dranzer from the desk at the other side of the room. 

"Okay," said Alida, surveying him. Then she walked over to him and put her hand to his head again. "Your temperature has dropped. You can go around the house, but you can't go outside yet, alright?"

"What makes you think I'm going to listen to you?" he asked coldly.

"The fact that you want to get better so you won't have to depend on others anymore," she replied with an air of indifference.

"Hn," grunted Kai, leaving as Alida turned to follow, closing the door behind her.

Alida went outside to tend to the gardens as Kai took a seat in the dining room. Tyson, Kenny, and Max were watching TV in the living room, and Kai needed some time alone. Rei, was no where to be seen.

Soon, there were shouts in the living room and Kai determined that Tyson, Max, and Kenny had decided to act out one of the shows. _How pathetic can they get? _he thought.

Kai decided to start preparing dinner, so he got up and went to the kitchen. He stared at all the utensils and appliances. "Oh great," he muttered. "How does she do it?"

In the next hour or so, Kai managed to scrape up a decent meal, granted that it was not gourmet food. He tasted some and murmured, "Not bad…"

Kai went to place the food on the table when the door opened and closed softly. "Finished?" he asked Alida.

Alida walked in, with Rei behind her. "Yes," she said turning to look at him and stopped dead in her tracks. "Wow Kai. I didn't know you could cook."

Everyone else ran over and Tyson started teasing Kai. 

"Okay that's enough, Tyson," said Kenny, helping Kai with the food.

Tyson pouts. "Fine, fine Chief."

Everyone sits down and Kai almost looked nervous, watching everyone eat.

All of a sudden Tyson made some gagging noises and clutched his throat. "Help! Food poisoning!"

Kai growls and says, "Well I hope you die then." 

"Stop it Tyson! Or you can just starve how about that?" asked Alida with an evil grin. "This is really good Kai, where did you learn how to cook?"

Kai blushed faintly and mumbled, "I just taught myself, right now. This is my first time."

Luckily, no one noticed the color in Kai's cheeks. "Wow Kai! Your first time? I think you're lying," laughed Max, eating some of the food. 

The meal was eaten quickly, the tension between Kai and Tyson, building. Right after the meal Alida made Kai go sleep, while she cleaned up. Tyson and Max were playing video games, Kenny was having a debate with Dizzi, and Rei disappeared again.

By the time Alida finished everyone was in their room. Alida went into Kai's room to check on him. He appeared to be asleep and Rei's jacket was draped over a chair.

She felt his forehead and took the jacket from the chair to give to Rei when she was done making sure that Kai had recovered from that morning.

Unknown to Alida, Kai was still awake and when she turned to leave, he cracked open an eye to watch her. _I wonder…_ he thought.

Alida closed Kai's door behind her and walked up to Rei's room, his light was still on so she knocked on the door.

There was a rustling and then a muffled, "Come in."

Alida opened the door and peeked in. "Kai's better so I'm just returning your jacket."

Rei was in his pajamas, sitting on his bed, and looked like he was conversing with Drigger. "Thanks for bringing it back, but you didn't have to," he smiled at her. 

"It wasn't any trouble. Sorry if I bothered you…" she trailed off looking at his bitbeast curiously.

"Oh no! I was just talking to Drigger," he quickly reassured her. "What are you looking at?"

Alida blushed, "Oh, nothing." She quickly looked away.

"Well, thanks for bringing my jacket back," said Rei, getting up and taking his jacket from her. "Goodnight."

Alida turned to leave and went to sleep in her own bed. 

To be continued…

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Well? Tell me what you think by reviewing, thanks for your time. 

~cHiBi MidNiGhT aSsAsSiN


	7. Chapter 7: The Tournament

Last Ditch Attempt

By: cHiBi MiDnIgHt AsSaSsIn

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or it's respective characters. *breaks down crying and after a while, composes herself* Yeah, life's tough, deal with it.

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CHAPTER 7:

A few weeks later…

Alida and the BladeBreakers woke up especially early that morning. Today was the day of the tournament, and it was also the very first one that Alida was going to. 

Max and Tyson were more hyper than usual, running throughout the whole entire house, screaming at the tops of their lungs, until Kai snapped and threatened to forfeit their team at the match. Rei chuckled at them, and Kenny was working on last-minute adjustments.

In a few moments, two taxis arrived in the front of the house, courtesy of Mr. Dickenson. Of course, Max, Tyson, and Kenny piled into the back of the first taxi, leaving Rei, Kai, and Alida to ride in the second one. It appeared that Mr. Dickenson would meet them at the tournament.

The night before, when Alida was outside, picking vegetables for dinner, the BladeBreakers had a meeting and decided a surprise for Alida at the end of the tournament. 

It was going to be a long ride, the arena was two cities away from their current position. Tyson, Max, and Kenny were goofing off in the first car, while the driver ignored them as best as possible, but he was losing his control rapidly. Kenny noticed this when the driver almost hit a fire hydrant and warned Max and Tyson to be quiet so the driver wouldn't kill them in a car accident to which the driver was most grateful.

Meanwhile, in the other taxi, it was mainly quiet, except for a few friendly remarks between Rei and Alida. Kai was, as usual, sitting with his eyes closed, and his arms crossed, not really paying attention to their conversation.

Multiple times during the first hour of the ride, Alida kept on yawning, while covering her mouth politely, in between phrases of her chat with Rei. He eventually noticed this and stopped talking, hoping that without talking, Alida would take a nap before they arrived.

Alida, who was sitting in between the two boys, was somewhat grateful that Rei had stopped talking. For without anything else that was interesting to do, she gradually drifted off to sleep, her head falling down slowly to rest gently on Rei's shoulder. 

Rei turns from the window to smile at Alida. He knew that she got up early and went to bed late to ensure that the BladeBreakers could live in the utmost comfort. _She deserves this little nap_, he thought. _It's the least we could do. Sometimes I think we don't deserve her, actually, we don't deserve having her help us out_. He sighs, bringing Kai to open his eyes and look over at the other passengers.

His eyes wander from Rei to come to a stop momentarily at Alida's sleeping face before jerking his gaze back up to Rei who was smirking at him in the most peculiar way, as if _challenging_ him over… Kai looks back down at Alida. _It couldn't be_. He shook his head and returned to his original position, getting rid of the idea.

Rei smiled softly, it appeared that his plan was going well. He looked up ahead and sees a huge bend in the road. _This just keeps on getting better and better_. He shifts slightly to give Alida more room and maximum comfort and waits to hit the turn.

The driver eases up the road and slows down, like he was supposed to at the curve. The change in the direction of the car's route caused Alida to shift slightly, moving her head from its resting place on Rei's shoulder to Kai's bare one.

Kai's eyes immediately fly open to look down at Alida once again. He turned slightly panicky on the inside, but Rei was still there, so he kept his calm outside demeanor. Rei on the other hand was watching him intently, but appeared to just be checking to see if Alida was okay after the turn. He shrugs at Kai, who is desperately trying not to lose his composure.

Rei quietly chuckled to himself, knowing that Kai was struggling very hard internally not to show any emotion whatsoever. 

Kai did his best to ignore the slight pressure on his upper arm. The slight turns and bumps on the road were soothing and Kai almost fell asleep himself. His thoughts were slowly slipping from his mind until…the taxi stopped and the driver announced that they had arrived at their destination. 

The three younger boys in the first car were already out of the car and running around, stretching their legs and talking to Mr. Dickenson.

Rei and Kai looked at each other and then Alida, who had still not woken up yet. "Should we wake her up?" asked Rei.

Kai was spared the answer as she stirred lightly and yawned. Alida looked around, trying to get her bearings, she blushed as she realized that she had fallen asleep on Kai.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry Kai," she said softly, her bangs covering her face.

"Don't worry about it, we're here, so let's go," he said, getting out of the car and holding the door for her.

Alida ducks out of the car and made her way to the others, still blushing faintly.

Rei knew better than to call attention to her blush or her nap, so he drew the other BladeBreakers' attention to the tournament. "So…who's going to battle today?" he asked, assuming it was a three on three match like usual.

"Actually Rei," said Kenny. "Everyone is going to be beyblading today.

"Huh? Wha? Sweet!" said Tyson.

"How is that possible?" asked Max.

Kenny launched into the new rules of the tournament. The tournament was mainly a charity event for the BBA of Japan. The month before, there was a flurry of small tournaments all around Japan to determine the three of the best bladers from various regions. At the end of the month, they would all travel to Tokyo and be divided into four sections for elimination. The final blader from each section would get to battle the BladeBreakers.

When he finished, the team nodded their understanding, and together they headed for the wing in which was reserved for them.

The boys were anything but nervous. They were all beaming at the cameras, and luckily, they did not have to deal with the fans, who were being restrained by numerous officials. 

The BladeBreakers drew lots to see what the order for battling would be. Kai had section A; Rei had section B; Tyson had section C; and Max had section D.

The BladeBreakers were required to split up and go to each of their separate sections to oversee the competition, and referee the matches. This left Kenny and Alida to travel back and forth between the four of them, to give each other messages and what not. 

Alida had a pretty good time, much to the others' relief. The semi-finals drew to a close and soon the BaldeBreakers and the winners of the sections were ushered into the main arena.

The finalists, as it turned out, were two girls and two guys. Kai's and Tyson's opponents were boys, and Rei's and Max's were girls. 

Kenny was called up to referee these matches. None of them were easy, but the BladeBreakers won every single one of their matches. 

In the end, Max, since he was the last to be challenged, made an announcement. "In the past month, we, the BladeBreakers have been living by ourselves in a house. To endure such everyday difficulties would have been unthinkable had it not been for our new friend Alida. Come on up here," he says, beckoning to the furiously blushing girl.

Alida kept on mouthing, "No," until Tyson and Kenny picked her up and carried her to where Max was. By this time, Alida was beyond words. As soon as she reached the spotlight, there was a whole explosion of applause from the crowd as Alida sat there, hoping that she wouldn't fall off and that she could just disappear from the face of the earth.

To make matters worse, Max said, "And let's hear some words from Miss Alida, shall we?" and handed her the microphone.

Alida, who was not used to getting this much attention, glared at all the BladeBreakers around her before talking. "First, I would like to give a fair warning to the BladeBreakers, that as soon as this is over, their lives are in danger for I will be chasing every single one of them down for doing this to me!" she paused as the crowd laughed, as well as the boys. She smiles and then says, "It was a pleasure to be living with the famous BladeBreakers, they have in turn been doing me a kind favor as well for letting me live with them." With that the crowd erupted into cheering as the lights returned to normal and people began chatting loudly with each other.

The BladeBreakers then had a party with finalists, allowing Alida time to plan her revenge, or so she claimed to the others' amusement. Alida went off to chat with the girls, finally having some time with females, and the boys joked that the girls would take control and try to kill t hem.

The party was fun, but only lasted an hour before the BladeBreakers had to head back. On the way back, Alida sat with Max and Tyson, and the three of them chatted the whole way back. In the other car, Kai was silent as usual, and Kenny and Rei were talking about their successful plan involving Alida at the end of the tournament.

Upon arriving at the house, they all went into their rooms after a sleepy, "I'll get you guys tomorrow," from Alida, who yawned and dropped right off to sleep, as did the others.

To be continued…

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Well? Tell me what you think by reviewing, thanks for your time. 

~cHiBi MidNiGhT aSsAsSiN


	8. Chapter 8: Kai's Decision

Last Ditch Attempt

By: cHiBi MiDnIgHt AsSaSsIn

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or it's respective characters. *breaks down crying and after a while, composes herself* Yeah, life's tough, deal with it.

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CHAPTER 8:

As the days passed by, it became harder and harder for Kai to resist the pull of Black Dranzer. On the particularly bad days he became sick. The last time that had happened, the others were almost forced to hospitalize him, luckily they respected his wishes to not send him there.

After recovering from an exceptionally bad day of illness, he decided on the possible courses of action he could take. He glared at the bit on his side table. "Curse you Grandfather," he muttered angrily.

__

Destruction of a bit was impossible. Sending either Alida or Black Dranzer back was not an option. So the only other alternative was…

He gets up and looks at the clock. It was still pretty early, the others wouldn't be up yet. Then he looks out the window. _Great, it's raining…_ He shrugs it off and walks determinedly down to the kitchen. He looks around for a while, searching for a particular something. After finding it, he walks outside and a ways away from the house.

Unknown to him, Alida was following as quietly as possible, more than a little curious when he had taken the cleaver from the cutting board. She had taken an umbrella and hurried to keep up with him.

Kai was so occupied with his plan and did not hear Alida, who, under normal circumstances, he would have heard and discovered immediately. 

A good distance away, he stopped and looked at the kitchen utensil for a while, as if contemplating something. Kai was getting soaked, but didn't seem to care. 

Just then, lightning flashed, illuminating the dull dreariness around them, and glinted against the cleaver, which Kai had had raised into the air. It looked like he was about to… _No, it couldn't be_, thought Alida.

In the thunder that followed, Alida dropped the umbrella and ran at Kai. "What are you doing?!" she shrieked, hoping to stop him from doing whatever he was intent on doing. 

Kai looked at her with empty eyes. "What are you doing out here? You should be resting," he says, looking down at her.

Tears come to her eyes. "Kai, please put down the knife…" she begs of him, his eyes scaring her.

Kai lowers the weapon arm a fraction of an inch before shaking his head. "I need to do this Alida. You don't understand…" he says, clenching his left hand, where the Black Dranzer bit lay. "If I try and hold it, either my will will be destroyed, or Black Dranzer will take over and help my Grandfather take over the world."

"But there must be some other way!" she says, tears streaming down her face. 

"I'm afraid there isn't," he says in a monotone.

Alida panics and tries to pull the cleaver away from his grip. When this doesn't work, she tries talking him out of it again. "Please Kai, think of the others. They'll miss you. They need a captain…"

"They can find a new one. They never really needed me," he said.

"No Kai, they've always needed you, and they still do," she said firmly. By now she had cried herself out, and was looking up at him, getting drenched, just like Kai.

He shakes his head, "Goodbye Alida." He raises the knife arm and almost plunges it into his heart, but Alida grabs his arm and pushes it into her own.

"Problem…solved…" she gasped at the pain and collapsed, blood pouring out from the wound, and staining her outfit.

"Alida! No! Why did you do that?!" Kai yells, catching her before she hit the ground.

The life was slowly ebbing from her, aided by her treacherous heart, pumping the blood out of her body, yet somehow she managed to answer after being hit with a sudden realization. "Because I love you…" 

Kai's eyes widened, and knowing she didn't have much time left he kissed her cold lips, holding her trembling body in a tight embrace. "I love you too Alida, but I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner…" he murmurs softly. "But don't worry, we'll get you to a hospital and save you."

"I-I don't think I'll make it…" she smiles weakly.

With a sinking heart, he knew this to be true. So he just hugged her and tried to keep her as warm as possible. Kai was trying to deal with this situation as best he could. He never was one to show emotion, but this proved to be a bad thing as he could see her breath slowing down. Kai shed a single tear, that carried all his regrets and sorrow. 

Alida closed her eyes and breathed one final breath just as the tear hit her forehead.

"Damn you Grandfather," he closes his eyes and mutters, before repeating himself, except this time, yelling it aloud.

To be continued…

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Sorry for that short chapter, but I wanted it to be a cliff hanger. ^^; Yes, I know I'm crazy. Ya got a problem with that?! *glares and then coughs*

Well? Tell me what you think by reviewing, thanks for your time. 

~cHiBi MidNiGhT aSsAsSiN


	9. Chapter 9: Aftermath

Last Ditch Attempt

By: cHiBi MiDnIgHt AsSaSsIn

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or it's respective characters. *breaks down crying and after a while, composes herself* Yeah, life's tough, deal with it.

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Chapter 9:

The others had heard Kai yelling and quickly got up, running out into the rain, not bothering to even dress. They gasped, looking at the scene.

"What did you do Kai?!" yelled Tyson.

Kai didn't even blink, not like the others could tell. His red eyes were covered by the shadow of his bangs. As he stood up to carry Alida inside the house, lightning and thunder flashed and sounded at the same time and Alida began to glow. All around them, the rain immediately stopped, which was strange in itself.

The others looked shocked and tried to understand what was happening.

Kai blinked as Alida was being pulled from him. The bit in his left hand was glowing as well. The bright light was almost blinding. Kai didn't want to let go, as if afraid Alida would disappear, but something told him to release her and he did.

Alida floated a few feet into the air, stopping at a certain altitude. Black Dranzer escaped from Kai's hold as well, drifting at the same height that the girl was.

Suddenly, pure white wings sprouted from her back. The humongous wings bent forward, wrapping themselves around Alida's body, as well as Black Dranzer. There was another burst of white light and the boys were almost knocked down at the energy emanating from her.

The wings slowly opened to reveal Alida's wound completely gone, or healed, no more blood stained her white tank top. Then the wings slowly shrunk as they became proportional to Alida's body, and she slowly fell back into Kai's awaiting arms.

The boy had been holding his breath, hoping that she was going to come back to life. He blinked down at Alida, who appeared to be resting for the moment. "Alida?" he asked softly. He didn't know why but something compelled him to breath her name.

Alida's vibrant green eyes opened as she smiled up at him. "Hello Kai," she murmured softly, her wingtips just brushing against the ground.

Kai shook his head and hugged her tightly. Alida blinked, surprised and hugged him back. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave you and cause you all this pain," she whispered, trying to soothe him.

Kai didn't answer, he merely held her, relieved she was back. The rest of the bladers smiled to themselves, watching the scene quietly.

"Come on, let's get you two inside before you catch a cold," said the ever responsible Rei, placing a warm hand against Kai's bare shoulder.

Kai nodded and started heading towards the house, still carrying Alida. She sweatdrops. "Kai? I can walk you know," she said jokingly.

"So?" he asked, without even looking at her. He didn't want to admit it, but he was afraid that she might collapse or something if he allowed to her do any little thing.

The rest of the boys ran ahead, leaving them alone to talk. They quickly dried themselves inside the house and got a fire going in the enormous fireplace.

Alida sighed and simply rested against Kai's chest, content to be back. As soon as they reached the house, Kai carried her into the bathroom. He ran the water, drawing her a nice hot bath. Then he left the girl to clean herself and get herself nice and dry.

After Alida had done so, she turned to look at her wings in the mirror. "Now, what to do about these?" she asked sweatdropping. She placed on her normal white clothes and miraculously, the wings fit just perfectly. Hole immediately appeared in the back of her tank top, so her wings wouldn't be a nuisance to her.

Alida shyly walked out of the bathroom, and the boys all greeted her warmly and each gave her a hug. 

"Wow! Can we touch them?" Tyson asked curiously.

"Tyson!" yelled Kenny exasperatedly.

"It's alright Kenny. You can touch them Tyson," she replied with a laugh.

Tyson looked to Kai who's crimson eyes narrowed a bit, making Tyson gulp a bit. He let out a nervous laugh. "I changed my mind," he said, sweatdropping.

"Please go ahead. I'd feel better if you did," insisted Alida.

Tyson cautiously walked over to Alida and he ran a finger down the soft white feathers. "It's all soft and…soft!" he exclaimed.

The others sweatdropped and one by one they went up to touch Alida's wings as well. 

"Cool! Maybe you can fly with them!" Max suggested brightly.

Alida smiled. "Perhaps I can…but before that…I want to show you guys something…" she said a bit hesitantly.

"Go ahead Alida, no need to be shy," encouraged Rei.

The redhead nodded and held out her hand. It was Black Dranzer…or it used to be Black Dranzer. The others gasped, the bit had changed. It was now pure white and Kai was no longer attracted to its addictive power.

"What are you going to call it?" Kai finally said, breaking the awed silence around them.

"What do you mean?" she asked in confusion, looking up at the oldest person in the room.

"It's yours now," he said firmly. "And it needs a name."

The others all nodded in agreement and Alida stared first at Kai then at the bit. It was hers. Now she finally had a bitbeast of her own. 

After another long period of thoughtful silence, Alida spoke up. "Crystal Dranzer," she said finally. No one noticed it, but after she spoke the name, her wings began shrinking. 

"Crystal Dranzer? That won't strike fear into your opponents! It's too girly," said Tyson, crossing his arms.

Alida sweatdrops. "Tyson, I _am_ a girl."

"Well yeah…but…" he shut up after receiving another glare from Kai.

"Alright, time to get some rest," Kai said in a tone that left no room to argue, unless you were an idiot…either that or Tyson. He turned Alida around and began to steer her into her room.

"Hey wait! Where did your wings go?" asked Kenny, gaping at Alida's back.

Alida turned around in confusion. "What? They're not there any more?" she asked, trying to peer over her shoulder.

"We'll think about it later, after you get some rest," said Kai, ushering the girl into her room.

Alida climbed into bed and smiled sleepily up at Kai. "Goodnight Kai," she said, closing her eyes. She was still clutching her new bit.

Kai didn't say anything but carefully stroked the hair out of her eyes before tucking her in. Then he got up, turned off the lights, and left the room, closing the door behind him. He returned to his teammates who were still sitting in the living room. "Did you find out yet?" he asked the Chief.

The youngest boy nodded. "Yes, Mr. Dickenson looked it up after I asked him at the tournament. He called earlier today and told me it was tomorrow."

"That soon?" asked Max. "I doubt we'll be able to get everything done by then."

"Come on Maxie. Where'd all your optimism go buddy?" asked Tyson, giving him a disbelieving look.

"He's right Max, we'll get everything done," assured Rei with a smile. So while Alida slept, the others went shopping and got everything ready for the next day. At midnight, the famous bladers were finished and fell asleep immediately, tired out from all the day's events.

In the middle of the night, Alida woke up to make her usual rounds. She smiled at the familiar routine. First it was Kenny was fine. She tucked Max and Tyson in. Alida chatted for a while with Rei, without him knowing of course. Then she checked in on Kai. She expected him to be fine as well, but tonight he had the covers off. She tilted her head, wondering why today would be different than the other nights.

She tiptoed into the room, careful not to wake him up. She smiled down at the duel-color haired blader. She reached for the covers to tuck him in as she had done with Max and Tyson, but Kai's eyes flew open as he reached out with both arm-guard covered hands to grab her by the wrists.

Alida couldn't help but let out a tiny gasp as she lost her footing and toppled on top of Kai. "I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" she asked, blushing a bit.

"What are you doing up at this hour?" he asked softly, not wanting to wake the others. He let go of her wrists and moved over so that she could get off of him.

"Just checking up on you guys, making sure you slept properly," she said, rolling off of him to lay at his side.

"You should be more worried about yourself," he scolded her gently, pulling her into a slight hug. "Now go to sleep."

Alida blushed a bit, but she was still tired. She nodded. "'Night Kai," she murmured before falling asleep.

"Goodnight…my angel…" he said before following suit.

Rei smiled as he watched from the open door. The Chinese teen slipped back into bed before he was caught. _They make such a cute couple_, he thought to himself before chuckling.

To be continued…

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Well? Tell me what you think by reviewing, thanks for your time. 

~cHiBi MidNiGhT aSsAsSiN


	10. Chapter 10: Birthday

Last Ditch Attempt  
  
By: cHiBi MiDnIgHt AsSaSsIn  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or it's respective characters. *breaks down crying and after a while, composes herself* Yeah, life's tough, deal with it.  
  
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Chapter 10:  
  
The next day, the boys woke up early to arrange the final things and get ready for the new day. Alida woke up early as usual to start on breakfast and everything, but Kai told her to take it easy, and she eventually fell back asleep for about two more hours than normal.  
  
Kai watched her for some time before slipping out of his room and directing the others in the last minute, final touches.  
  
Then when Alida woke up for the second time that day, the whole house was quiet. She thought that the others were out training or doing their own things and she wandered into the living room. It was pretty dark since the overcast clouds from the day before didn't seem to have left the skies. Alida couldn't see a thing and she groped around for the light switch to the room, and when she flicked it on…  
  
"SURPRISE!" yelled the BladeBreakers, jumping out of their hiding places.  
  
Alida was taken aback, and looked at them in confusion. She saw the decorations that read: HAPPY   
  
BIRTHDAY, and was a bit dumbfounded.  
  
"Looks like Alida forgot her own birthday," said Tyson with a chuckle.  
  
Alida blushed at the comment and looked at the ground for a while. Then she shook her head and peered up at the boys with a sheepish grin. "Thanks you guys."  
  
"It was our pleasure," said Max, coming over to place an arm around her shoulder.  
  
"Yeah, and besides, you saved Mr. Sourpuss over there," said Tyson, jerking a thumb over to indicate Kai, who was standing separated from the others.   
  
Kai didn't even indicate that he had heard what Tyson had said, and remained as stoic as ever.  
  
"Well c'mon, don't wait for his response, that could take forever, if he'd give us one at all," said Rei with a smile.  
  
The group played a few party games, of which Tyson and Max had the most fun, naturally. There was Pin the Tail on the Donkey tacked onto the wall, which Kenny won, because, even with a blindfold, he doesn't appear to have eyes.  
  
After that was a large round of Hide-and-Seek, which the boys were very successful with, since they had spent the evening before, finding the perfect hiding places, with which to hide before yelling, "Surprise."  
  
Then came a mini talent show. Tyson performed a few magic tricks, with Kenny as a 'volunteer,' when in reality, Kenny couldn't think of a talent to display, and Tyson had 'suggested' that Kenny help him.  
  
Tyson tried to make Kenny disappear, which, needless to say, didn't work. After that, he tried to cut Kenny in half, but Kenny screamed out when Tyson sliced his shirt open. Then, Tyson ended with a handcuff trick that failed when he succeeded in cuffing himself together and losing the key.  
  
After Tyson's brief 'moment of fame,' Kai responded with, "Very nice Tyson, if they didn't want you in the Freak Show before, you can try with this new set of tricks."  
  
"Haha, very funny," replied Tyson dryly, while he tried to break free from the cheap handcuffs.  
  
Rei went next, displaying a few of the martial arts moves that he had picked up in his hometown. They included a solo workout routine, with a couple of jumps, kicks, spins, and punches. The others were amazed, and applauded for him very loudly, especially Alida, which, despite Kai's nonchalance, got the captain a bit jealous.  
  
Rei sweatdropped, when Kai brushed past him a little more malevolently than was expected, but Alida didn't seem to notice.   
  
Kai demonstrated his strength by chopping his way through a two-inch wooden board, and a one-inch block of concrete. Then he walked over to the still entrapped Tyson and broke the handcuffs.  
  
  
  
Tyson yelped and rubbed his red wrists, before yelling, "What did I do to you?!"  
  
Alida sweatdropped. "Well…you're free now Tyson," she replied with a smile.  
  
Tyson looked down. "Huh? I guess you're right," he said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.  
  
"Hn," replied Kai, walking over to sit in between Alida and Rei.   
  
"Great job Kai," said Alida, smiling up at him, to which Kai couldn't help but give a little smirk to Rei, which clued the neko-jin in to Kai's jealousy.  
  
I've gotta watch myself more carefully, or end up on Kai's bad side…like Tyson, thought Rei with a sweatdrop. Then he spoke up. "Max, you're up, buddy."  
  
Max got in front of them and did exaggerations of everyone. First up was Tyson. "If I could, I'd eat every second of the day. It's amazing I haven't eaten so much as to cause worldwide hunger."  
  
Then, he did an impression of Kenny. He messed up his hair, so that his eyes couldn't be seen. "Can't...sleep…must…work…" he said, holding his arms out in front of him and walking around stiff-leggedly to make himself look like a sleep-deprived mummy.  
  
After that an imitation of Rei ensued. Max got out a headband with kitty ears on top of them. He put them on, and used his fingers as fangs, which made him look like a tame saber tooth tiger. He growled before mewing and rubbing his head against Alida's leg.   
  
Next came replication of Kai. Max walked over to a window. He wrapped the long curtain around his neck, to look like Kai's scarf. Then he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, and his eyes closed. "Look at me, you can't make me move or laugh. Go ahead and try, tickle me."  
  
Then Max stopped there, because Alida was the birthday girl, and Kai was threatening his life. Max hid behind the others, but they were bent on revenge too. So they chased each other around. Just as Max was about to throw open the door and run out, the doorbell rang. Max got the door and hid behind Mr. Dickenson. The others stopped and greeted him.  
  
  
  
"Happy Birthday Alida," said Mr. Dickenson.   
  
"Thank you sir," she replied, before adding, "You shouldn't have," when he handed her their collective present.   
  
"Open it now!" yelled Max, trying to draw attention away from himself.  
  
Alida blinked as the others settled down to watch her open the medium-sized, brightly wrapped box. The box contained a whole set of beyblading things. There was a pure white blade, launcher, and ripcord.  
  
Alida's eyes grew wide as what the present was finally hit her. "I-I can't accept this," she stuttered, trying to hand it back to Mr. Dickenson.  
  
"Crystal Dranzer needs a place to stay," said Max. "At least put the bit in."  
  
Alida nodded and did so, but she was still unconvinced. She slipped the bit chip in place, but cut herself a little bit in the process, she watched as a drop of bright ruby blood landed on the blade.  
  
"I've heard that with a sword, if a person bleeds on it, then it belongs to that person forever. That is of course, when the person isn't using it to kill someone," said Kenny with a sweatdrop.  
  
"So it's the same with your blade. It's yours now!" concluded Rei with a grin.  
  
Alida nodded slowly, looking at the blade, and watched as her blood trickled over the surface.  
  
Kai grabbed Alida's hand and deftly wiped the blood away with his scarf, as well as the blood on her blade.  
  
"Thanks Kai," she murmured, smiling at him. "But now your scarf is dirty."  
  
"Don't worry about it," he said gruffly.  
  
Tyson's stomach grumbled. "Cake time!" yelled the neon clothed beyblader.  
  
The others groaned, but Mr. Dickenson revealed a huge rectangular raspberry angel cake, which was self-explanatorily representative of Alida. He told the others that Oliver had made it especially for them.   
  
"Whoa reallly? Oliver made it? Then it'll taste even better than it looks," said Tyson, already drooling all over the place.  
  
"Yeah, Tyson and I ate at Oliver's restaurant when we met him back in France," explained Kenny.  
  
Rei placed in the 'magic candles' and they sung to Alida before she made a wish and blew out the candles. Then she cut the cake and served it to everyone. They made sure everyone had their fill before letting Tyson have the rest.  
  
"Who needs a garbage disposal when you've got Tyson?" joked Max. Tyson was too busy eating to retort.  
  
Mr. Dickenson had a business meeting to go to and gave Kai more money before bidding them all a good night, and saying, "Happy Birthday," one more time.  
  
Alida smiled and waved, watching his form disappear into a black limo. "Thank you Mr. Dickenson," she called out before closing the door behind her.  
  
"Come on, let's go shopping now," suggested Kenny.  
  
"Really? Even after all of this?" asked Alida in surprise.  
  
"Well, we don't think it's fair that you only really got one present from all of us, so we're going to buy you stuff you like, since we had no idea what girls really like and stuff," explained Rei.  
  
Alida laughed, but insisted that just one present was enough, but the others wouldn't hear of it. They all walked to the shopping mall a few blocks away.  
  
Even though Tyson had had his fill of cake, he quickly ran off to get something to eat. Max went with him to make sure he wouldn't make a fool of himself. The others sweatdropped as they watched the blond trailing his teammate.  
  
Kenny got distracted by new hardware in a computer store, and Rei left to go do something or other, not wanting to be killed by Kai because the captain was jealous.  
  
Alida tilted her head, simply window-shopping at the moment.  
  
"See anything you like?" asked Kai.  
  
Alida turned her emerald gaze towards him and shook her head sheepishly. The truth was, she didn't feel comfortable shopping just for herself.  
  
"Don't be shy," he said quietly, startling her.   
  
Alida nodded and picked out something that wasn't too expensive. She bought a bracelet with tiny fake diamonds littered along the length of it. "To match my new bitbeast," she explained with a smile as they payed for it.  
  
As they exited the store, Alida caught a glimpse of Tala. She gasped and hid slightly behind Kai. At hearing the tiny noise from her, Kai's sharp red eyes scanned the perimeters. They narrowed as they settled on Tala and Voltaire, who were walking their way.  
  
"Well well well, fancy meeting you here Grandson," said Voltaire, looking down at both Kai and Alida.  
  
"What are you doing here?" said Kai in a cold tone, nothing showing through his emotionless mask.  
  
"Just checking up on you, is that so wrong?" he asked in mock surprise.  
  
"It is when you're a wanted lunatic," retorted the blader.  
  
"Your were always a sharp one, but your tongue even sharper," he said, his pleasant expression fading into its customary scowl.  
  
"You're wasting your time here Grandfather. Your plan failed again," he said with a smirk. Then he caught Tala staring at Alida. He placed an arm around her shoulders, as if to provide security, and nodded at her.  
  
"What are you talking about?" he asked, his gaze open Kai hardening, watching what took place.  
  
Alida hesitated for a moment, but took out her beyblade, holding it out for Voltaire and Tala to see.  
  
"Alida here changed it. It's not Black Dranzer anymore Grandfather.  
  
"That's impossible!" spluttered the elderly villain.  
  
"Well it's not, now I suggest you leave before the proper authorities arrive," he said in a self-satisfactory tone.  
  
He snarled and nearly used his cane as a weapon against Kai, but thought better of it. "We'll see about that," he growled, turning and allowing his cape to flare out behind him as he stalked away.  
  
Tala stayed a moment longer to leer at Alida, which was the biggest mistake he could have made in front of Kai. The BladeBreaker quickly released Alida before stepping up to Tala. "This is for Alida," he muttered in an almost evil tone, his face almost touching Tala's, which blocked the Russian's view before he punched him hard in the gut.  
  
Kai turned and walked away from Tala, who fell to his knees from the impact, clutching his stomach. "Let's go Alida," he said, placing an arm around her waist.  
  
To be continued...  
  
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Well? Tell me what you think by reviewing, thanks for your time.   
  
~cHiBi MidNiGhT aSsAsSiN 


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